Jean Paul Duminy batted like there was no tomorrow, powering the Cape Cobras to victory. His knock of 99 not out off just 52 balls out-shined the fifties by Ross Taylor and Robin Uthappa earlier in the day. Duminy, desperately unlucky to miss out on a deserving hundred, hit 8 fours and 5 sixers in his sparkling innings.

First innings: Following an action-packed opening ceremony featuring the likes of Shaggy, Jamelia and the Shaolin Monks, Anil Kumble won the toss and opted to bat. Kallis and Uthappa, opening the innings for Bangalore, got the team off to a steady start, before the former fell to his South African colleague Langeveldt on 8, outside edging the ball to the hands of the keeper Canning. This brought in Rahul Dravid at number 3 who got off the mark with a classic ondrive, reliving the glorious days of old-school cricket. Uthappa, on the other hand, was living dangerously, with a couple of mistimed shots landing short off the fielders and another such attempt resulting in Langeveldt putting down a tough chance. In the process Langeveldt had to walk off the field after falling awkwardly and injuring his shoulder. Luck seemed to be on Bangalore's side once again when Rahul Dravid was put down by Davids on 15 off Zondeki's bowling. However, the duo hung on and took their partnership past the fifty run mark. At the halfway stage, Bangalore were 69-1.

Robin Uthappa reached his 50 with a six off Zondenki but fell the very next ball thanks to a sharp catch from Herschelle Gibbs at point. Soon to depart was Rahul Dravid, run-out yet again after a mixup with Virat Kohli. Kohli started off well with a couple of boundaries helping Bangalore cross the 100 run mark but became the next man to go, after a flashy bit of stumping from Canning off Henderson's bowling.

It was then time for the Ross Taylor blitzkreig at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Taylor toyed around with the Cobra bowlers, with booming sixers and fours travelling all around the park. Manish Pandey was giving him good support, playing for singles and giving the Samoan most of the strike. Taylor brought up his fifty off the last ball of the innings with a top-edge going over the keeper's head for a boundary. Taylor remained unbeaten on 53 off just 24 balls, helping Bangalore to a formidable total of 180/4. Taylor's innings included 4 fours and 4 sixers.

Second innings: Chasing a steep target, the Cobras had a disastrous start after Praveen Kumar struck in the first over to bag the vital wicket of Herschelle Gibbs, dismissing him for a duck. A hint of out-swing saw Gibbs edging the ball to the safe hands of Mark Boucher. More success was in store for the Royal Challengers when the Cobras captain Puttick became Praveen's second victim after a leading edge was pouched by Kohli at Point.

However, the early wickets did not deter Duminy or Davids who took the attack to the seamers. Dealing in boundaries and sixers, the pair frustrated the seamers, especially Kallis, who let out verbal volleys at Duminy. JP Duminy might have believed that he had his share of luck when Ross Taylor put down a sitter of Kumble's bowling. However, that was not the way it turned out - the ball caught the cable which was wired to the fly cam and the umpire declared it a dead ball. Davids was looking set for a good score, whacking back-to-back boundaries off Vinay kumar. But the bowler had the last laugh, when Davids fell to Vinay on 27, cutting a back of length delivery straight to Kohli at point. The next man to go was Ontong, bowled by van der Merwe for 19.

Meanwhile, Duminy, with his 'no-nonsense' approach, was keeping the Cobras' hopes high, taking them closer to the target. He went on to reach his fifty with a reverse sweep to the boundary off Anil Kumble. Canning gave him good support, playing for singles and twos and rotating the strike. With towering sixers and sweetly timed boundaries, Duminy was taking the game away from the Challengers. The 50 partnership for the fifth wicket came in the 18th over which ended with the Cobras requiring 18 runs to win off the last two overs. The Challengers claimed the wicket of Canning in the 19th over, after the right-hander departed, holing out to Anil Kumble, giving Praveen Kumar his third scalp. However, that turned out to be only a consolation wicket as Duminy, with a flurry of boundaries, took Cobras to the last over, requiring 9 runs for victory. He hit a massive six and then took a single off the penultimate ball. Kleinveldt finished it off with a boundary, leaving a heart-broken Duminy stranded one short of a deserving hundred.

Turning Point of the match:

Duminy, on 74, came down the track to Kumble and and hit a low drive back to him. The ball travelled to the left of Kumble, who dived at it but could not cling on to the catch and Duminy went on to power his team to victory with an unbeaten 99. Although it was a tough chance, Kumble, in hindsight, would have hoped he had pulled that one off.